We are nomads and we belong to the desert- Tinariwen

interviews Nov 08, 02:13pm

When a group of young Tuareg musicians came together in the Algerian oasis city of Tamanrasset in 1979, all they wanted to do was to preserve and promote the cultural traditions and political aspirations of the Tuareg people - semi-nomadic pastoralists who are spread out all across the Sahara desert. The collective of young refugees from Mali - where the Tuareg have fought a decades-long struggle for independent statehood - performed at parties, weddings and around nomadic campfires, playing their repertoire of ‘desert blues’ - heavily influenced by traditional Tuareg music as well as Algerian pop rai, Morocco’s chaabi protest music and even some classic rock - and singing Tamashek songs about homesickness, longing and facing the challenges of modernity. Almost 30 years later Tinariwen has toured the world, released a string of critically acclaimed records, won a Grammy for Best World Music Album, and become the world’s foremost proponents of Tuareg culture and political assertion. Along the way, members of the group have braved harassment and threats from the Malian government and Islamist groups in their home country, lived through rebellion and civil war, and in the case of some of the older members of the group, even fought as armed rebels in the 1990 Tuareg uprising, leading Slate to call them “rock 'n' roll rebels whose rebellion, for once, wasn't just metaphorical.”

Later this evening, Tinariwen will kick off their tour of Asia in support of their new album Elwan at the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Mumbai. The show, organised by artist and event management company Mixtape, in collaboration with the Royal Opera House’s brand new jazz club The Quarter, promises to be one of the highlights of the city’s cultural calendar, with tickets selling out within days. I spoke to the group’s guitarist Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni via e-mail about their new album, Tuareg culture, and the political situation in their home country of Mali.

Q: Earlier this year, you released Elwan, which means the elephants. Can you tell us a little more about the album and what the title means?

Q: Elwan, like many of your earlier albums, has largely been recorded in the desert. Only this time it was in in Southern Morocco and California. How important is your environment when you’re making music?

Q: I’ve read that Tinariwen songs are written as a collective. Could you expand on your songwriting process?

Q: Tinariwen has been around for 30 years and the group has become famous, playing all over the world and winning a Grammy. Some of the older members can remember being armed rebels, but there’s also a new generation of musicians who are part of the group now. How has all that affected your music over the years? How has it evolved?